Manfred’s Comments (group member since Jan 12, 2017)

Manfred’s comments from the Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium discussion and Review Group. group.

This is the second revised one star Review on Goodreads - I do not have the original for this review, like I have for the Blog Review, but the first Goodreads Review was much more positive and a lot longer!

A very interesting book indeed.
Full review on blog

Everything I thought would happen in this book was completely and utterly thrown out the window within the first couple of chapters. It was mostly unpredictably and for the most part completely and utterly strange and paranormal. And I know realize that is not a type of book I enjoy... When I first heard about the fairies in this book,I was thinking tinkerbelle sort of things... I was wrong to say the least, the fairies in this book are sooooo not like tinkerbelle.

At the beginning of this book Mirabelle is young, she is thirteen and I believe she is around this age until about a third of the way into the novel. I much prefer her character when she is older and found her a lot more interesting.

SECOND REVISED BLOG REVIEW - POSTED ABOUT TWO MONTHS LATER.

Book review: Magic Mirabelle and the riddle of the opium
February 26, 2017therealqueenofthebooks
Hello Book Nation!

On my January tbr I mentioned one of the books I wanted to read in January was Magic Mirabelle and the riddle of the night opium by Manfred. I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of this book to review. However, as my laptop then needed fixing and the school year started, I had to put this book on hold and add it to my February tbr. So now I bring to you, my review:



This book is a paranormal fairytale which I do not have much experience reading in this genre, so I found this rather creepy and strange. I probably will not be reading books like this again…

The characters were completely different to anything I have seen before, most of them were really interesting and always left me in the dark about something.

This book is definitely one that gets better as it goes on. But not really good enough. I was going to DNF this book so many time throughout reading it… and I think I should have quit the first time round.

I found myself a little disconnected from the main character in the first third of the book. But as it went on it became more interesting. The reason for this is probably because in the beginning the main character was quite young.
Not to worry, as the book went on the character had a few
birthdays and before halfway she was 16, which made it easier to read. I wasn’t the biggest fan on Mirabelle, the main character, when she was younger but she was more likable later on in the book.

noThere were also some points in the book that had me going, ‘No! stop it. Stop everything and just think it through’ urg! The main character was definitely one that had a habit of putting herself in bad situations by not reading the full terms and conditions!

I don’t exactly know what to say considering I didn’t enjoy this book one bit.

My goodread’s review is here is you so wish.

Until next time,

ORIGINAL THREE STAR REVIEW FROM RYLEY QUEEN OF BOOKS ON HER BLOG BOOK NATION.

Book review: Magic Mirabelle and the riddle of the opium
February 26, 2017therealqueenofthebooks
Hello Book Nation!

On my January tbr I mentioned one of the books I wanted to read in January was Magic Mirabelle and the riddle of the night opium by Manfred. I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of this book to review. However, as my laptop then needed fixing and the school year started, I had to put this book on hold and add it to my February tbr. So now I bring to you, my review:

Pages: 300

My Rating: 3/5

Release date:March 2017

Issue: ebook, review copy

my thought:

This book is a paranormal fairytale which I do not have much experience reading in this genre, so I found this rather interesting, creepy and strange, but good all the same. I have no idea what sort of books I would compare this one to, to me, it is very original and created a whole new world of sorts, while also taking place mostly in the real world. I can assure you that this book was highly different and strange and creepy (all in a good way of course)

The characters were completely different to anything I have seen before, most of them were really interesting and always left me in the dark about something.

This book is definitely one that gets better as it goes on.

I found myself a little disconnected from the main character in the first third of the book. But as it went on it became more interesting. The reason for this is probably because in the beginning the main character was quite young.
Not to worry, as the book went on the character had a few
birthdays and before halfway she was 16, which made it easier to read. I wasn’t the biggest fan on Mirabelle, the main character, when she was younger but she was more likable later on in the book.

noThere were also some points in the book that had me going, ‘No! stop it. Stop everything and just think it through’ urg! The main character was definitely one that had a habit of putting herself in bad situations by not reading the full terms and conditions!
What I liked about this book:

If you like books about fairies or witches this book has got them. I can’t say I’ve ever really been into the whole fairy side of things but things were a little different in this one and the fairies were not the sort you might be used to and by that I mean this is a paranormal kind of book and these fairies are completely different. However, still rather interesting. (a little on the creepy scary side of things, but still pretty cool)

The way this book is written is a little different from other books I have read.It comes across like a fairytale. whats-going-onIt was still written really well and easy to understand, This book was actually rather easy to get into. And there were often times when I set out to only read one chapter and ended up reading five. They felt to be rather fast pacing chapters too, (not short, but fast pacing).
To expand on that thought, The pacing of this book was pretty good, the book didn’t make me want to stay up all night and read it, but it did have me saying ‘well that chapter went by quick, I have time for one more (or seven)’

But along with that the writing was different in another way, it was told in fairytale way. If you have ever read or heard a fairytale before you might understand what I mean, there are just little things in the way it was written that reminded me of the writing in fairytales. And I think this made it a little easier and quicker to read.

My goodread’s review is here is you so wish.

Until next time, (less)

ESKIEMAMABLOG - is holding a give away of three PDF and two paperback copies of our book Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium. Giveaway takes place Sunday the 26th of February.

https://eskiemamareads.blogspot.dk/20...

Hi everyone, I am offering a free ebook for review in the YA Buddy Reader's Corner Group - it is listed under the section Buddy Read and Review and is scheduled for the 23rd of February. So sign up soon if you want a free ebook!

Here is the link
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Here is where you sign up
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

1 - Book's name is Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium.

2 - The book was released on Amazon in February 2017

3 - I am offering 25 free copies of the book in PDF form for those who want to post a short review on Goodreads and/or Amazon.

4 - Format is PDF only.

Looking forward to hear from interested parties.

Best Regards
Manfred

Author Interview for Manfred on WAKING WRITER BLOG

When and why did you begin writing?

I began writing when I was a teenager, just after I finished high school. I was inspired by fantasy novels and books with elfish and fairy lore like George Macdonald and Tolkien, as well as Romantic poetry like Blake and Keats, who also wrote heaps about fairies and the otherworld. I was also a bit inspired by writers from the Golden Dawn Hermetic Magic tradition like Dion Fortune and W.B, Yeats. So you will find lots of these three influences in my writing.

Can you share with readers a little about your latest book?

The story is about a young teenage girl (Mirabelle), who lives totally in her world of fantasy adventure books, like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc. And, after making a Wish with her little brother, she discovers a Magic Box with a very mysterious and enigmatic riddle in it. The riddle has been left for Mirabelle by her admirer, the Magician and Alchemist Night Opium, who wants to make her his apprentice and share his knowledge of Magic and Goldmaking with her. After that, Mirabelle discovers that she is not only caught up in the most amazing adventure, but she has also become the central player in a very exciting and enchanted game, called the Dungeons of Lethe Game.
In this game, it is her job to defeat several powerful rivals in three Magical Battles, each more psychologically demanding and grueling than the last. Fortunately for her, she has powerful allies to help her: her friends Lucy and Freddy, the saucy one foot one Fairy, Apricot Lantern, the madly eccentric Father of Wishes and Night Opium himself. In the nail-biting climax to the book, which takes place in the historic centre of Westminster London, the heroine understands that not only her own fate but also that of everyone she loves, depends on both her victory in the Dungeons of Lethe Game, along with her finally solving the Riddle of Night Opium.

Tell us more about your main character. What makes him or her unique?

Well, Mirabelle is very special because she not only loves books more than anything else in the world, but she has also found a way to bring them to life. Mirabelle’s Grandma is a Witch and she teaches her granddaughter some special Magic tricks. After that, the world of her imagination and her everyday world cross over and Mirabelle has adventures just like the heroines in her favorite stories, where she meets Witches, Wizards, Fairies, Unicorns and so on. This is just what she has always dreamed about and wished for – to be a Princess in her own fantasy adventure story. But she soon discovers that even though she is a Princess there are also battles she has to fight and obstacles she has to overcome. Living in a Fairytale you see also has its dark sides. Just like real life!

Who is your favorite character in your book and why?

Mirabelle is the main heroine of the story. The entire book is narrated in the third person through her eyes. I love her as a character of course, but my favorite character is her best friend Lucy. Everyone in the book loves Lucy! She is witty, vivacious, charming, a little bit mad and totally unpredictable and fearless. She is also a kind of Fairy Queen in disguise so that gives her the opportunity to do loads of Magic – and in the end, both she and Mirabelle learn heaps from each other and they discover that they both share a very special bond that makes them inseparable!

Who is the least favorite character in your book and why?

That’s an interesting question. And I think a lot of people will really dislike the wicked Nightshadow Fairy – the villain in the story. She is very beautiful and clever, but at the same time she is also very manipulative, hardhearted and cruel. She is a very complex character and It is hard for me to hate her, because, even though it is her job to destroy Mirabelle in the Dungeons of Lethe Game, she also has a soft spot in her cold heart for the young Princess. And you will see what happens with that when you read the story. I won’t spoil it here!

Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?

There are so many influences which helped shape this story. The most important ones are the fantasy books like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, the Narnia and Harry Potter books. There is also the Romantic tradition of myth and Fairy lore which is present in writers like George Macdonald and poets like William Blake. Finally, there are also the authors on Magic and Hermetic Philosophy. For those who have read J.K. Rowling’s first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and have wondered what lies behind the age-old tradition of the Philosopher’s Stone and Alchemy, you will get a quite a few details about that in my new book! As well as one or two surprises!

Tell us something unique about you?

There is not so much to tell, But I think the most unique thing about me is that not only do I love writing in the Fairytale and epic Fantasy tradition, but I also TOTALLY believe in the characters of my books and I am not satisfied with them until they are fully fleshed out with their own personality and background history. I not only want my characters to be entertaining and tell a good story – entertaining the reader is the main ingredient for writing a successful novel – but I also want them to give me one or two good reasons for why they want me to write about them! I am very stubborn and determined in that way.

Posted by Berneta Haynes 11-1-2017
From Waking Writer Blog

https://wakingwriter.com/2017/01/11/m...


Want to learn more about Manfred’s work?
Send a friend request on Goodreads and ask about the book.

.Visit his Facebook page and read more about the plot of the book and the main characters.

https://www.facebook.com/magicmirabel...

Or visit his Author Page

amazon.com/author/riddleofnightopium

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Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium by Manfred
Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium
by Manfred (Goodreads Author)
Release date: Mar 15, 2017
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List of the Main Characters in our book,
Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium - (long version).

MIRABELLE - The central character in our novel is the apprentice Witch, Mirabelle Sommerfield. Her story begins as a twelve year old girl in East Finchley with her Mama, Grandma and new born Baby brother. And it ends with her as a grown up woman of around 25 years working as an actress at Soho Theatre, and living with her dear friends Lucy and Freddy in their flat in Soho Central London. During that period she gradually completes an amazing Rite of Passage both in this world, as well as through her magical experiences in the Otherworld through the Dungeons of Lethe Game. During her adventures in the otherworld, she meets three Fairy Queens, Apricot Lantern, The Nightshade Fairy and the Fairy of Providence, as well as Grand Master of the Fraternity of Hermetic Goldmakers, the Father of Wishes. Along with her family and friends, each of these enchanted otherworldly beings plays a central role in her psychological development as well as her eventual Initation into the mysteries of Hermetic Magic and the Wisdom of the Craft. Her first partner in the D.O.L. Game is her baby brother. But after that it is her arch rival Melisande.

BABY - From the very beginning of the book we can see that there is something very special and magical about Mirabelle’s baby brother (who doesn’t get a name until right at the end of the story). Indeed, although Mirabelle’s mother gives birth to him at the local hospital, at the same time, Mirabelle herself is busy bringing him to the family home from the Neverland as a seventh member of the band of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys. (In the original story, if you recall, there are only six Lost Boys!) Not long after he arrives in the house, Mirabelle begins to make up the most fanciful and enchanting stories for him as he lies in his cradle. Those stories prompt Mirabelle to wish for her angels and Baby’s angels to play together. And it is from that wish that Mirabelle’s adventures really begin - first she finds the Riddle in the Dragon Chest and then Night Opium and the one foot one Fairy Apricot Lantern appear in her room. Baby also secretly accompanies Mirabelle when she goes up the Glass Slipper Staircase to the Land of Wishes. He is also the Father of Wishes’ apprentice in Gold-making and entomology, as well as Freddy’s partner in the Peacocks team during the latter part of the Dungeons of Lethe Game.

MAMA - Mirabelle’s mother (Vivienne Sommerfield) also has an important role to play in the book. It is her who helps start the adventure by telling Mirabelle about Baby’s angels and prompting her daughter to wish for her angels and Baby’s angels to play together. She also gives Mirabelle advice on how to solve the Riddle and when Mirabelle is depressed after her 13th birthday, she contacts Grandma Selena via the Witch’s Telgraph to see if she can help solve Mirabelle’s problem with Night Opium and his Fairy. After Mirabelle’s best friend Lucy kind of adopts Mirabelle’s mother during the Halloween Party, she and Lucy team up as partners for the Amorinas team during the D.O.L. Game. Although it appears that Baby is Mama's favourite child, she does give her temperamental daughter important and perspicacious advice at various times in the novel.

PAPA - Lindsey Sommerfield. Mirabelle’s father has a very important job in the Foreign Office in Whitehall. Despite his important duties however, his role in the book is totally minimal. And although mentioned on several occassions, he never actually appears in the narrative!

GRANDMA SELENA HATFIELD - Mirabelle’s Grandmother is from the Hatfield side of the family. She is a free-spirited Witch who runs a coven in Glastonbury and travels all over the countryside giving clairvoyant advice, psychic healings and telling fortunes future with her Gypsy Witch Fortune telling cards. Instead of the usual suits of hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades, these cards are made up of amorinas, peacocks, tulips and mandrakes. These four suits are the same suits that are used in the D.O.L. Game. When Grandma returns from Glastonbury with two members of her coven, the three Witches conjure up the D.O.L. Game and divide Mirabelle and the others into the three teams - Tulips, Amorinas and Peacocks. These teams are allied together against the Mandrake team which is made up of Selena and her two friends. Grandma is a complex personality. She has a less than congenial relationship with Mirabelle’s mother. And, although she does spark Mirabelle’s initial interest in the Craft and apprentices her, during the D.O.L. Game hers and Mirabelle’s relationship dramatically alters!

LUCY - Her full name is Annabelle Lucinda Flavius and just before Samhein, she suddenly arrives as a new student at the local high school with her brother Freddy. She immediately befriends Mirabelle and together the two girls become the school’s authority on Halloween and other magical matters. During the Halloween party, she adopts Mirabelle’s mother and Baby and is very disappointed when Mirabelle and Baby both disappear into the Land of Wishes and don’t come back for almost three years. Lucy, as part of the Amorinas team, plays a very important role in the second of the Magical Battles. With her irresisitible charm and charisma, she also becomes one of the central players in the Soho Theatre experience towards the end of the novel, where her relationship with her beloved Mirabelle takes an unexpected and dramatic turn.

FREDDY - His full name is Frederic Mark Leopold Flavius. Along with being a Wizard Freddy is also a poet and the founder of the Blue Flower Fellowship of Poets (or the B.F.F.) During the Halloween Party he adds a bit of spice to the poetry meeting by reading his dramatic Thunder Man poem. He is also romantically involved with Mirabelle’s arch rival Melisande and is Baby’s teammate in the first of the three Magical Battles. He and Mirabelle have a love-hate relationship. But it is through his poem the Londres Witch that both she and Lucy begin their dramatic careers in the London Theatre circuit. Freddy’s poem is also central to the outcome of the third and last Magical Battle, as well as finding the eventual solution to the enigmatic riddle which Mirabelle found in the Dragon Chest not long before her 13th birthday.

MELISANDE TREACHEROUS - Melisande is one of Freddy’s classmates and one of the original members of the B.F.F. Her and Freddy appear to have some sort of steamy romance going on and as such, she and Mirabelle both become bitter rivals for the poet’s amorous affections. Melisande later replaces Baby and joins Mirabelle on the Tulips team as she happily follows her into Lady Nightshadow’s dreadful Nightshade Parlour. There she lives up to her Treacherous nature as she plays out several comical and grisly scenes with Mirabelle and their Mistress, during the latters bizarre Goldmaking experiments. And even though it appears that she has been permanently removed from the D.O.L. Game, during the third and last Magical Battle she makes a surprising and very sinister appearance.

GUY HARRINGTON - Artistic Director of the Soho Theatre Company. During the second Blue Flower Fellowship of poets meeting, Freddy recites his Londres Witch poem and Guy recognises his creative Genius along with the dramatic skills of Lucy and Mirabelle. How their mutual venture into the world of Sorcery and experimental theatre ends up is very bizarre and amusing.

THE MAGICAL BEINGS IN THE STORY

APRICOT LANTERN - The first of three Fairy Queens. She first appears with the Wizard Night Opium and both he and his fairy capture Mirabelle's heart and play a central part in Mirabelle's early magical adventures.

NIGHT OPIUM - Elf Sorceror and apprentice of the Father of Wishes. After placing the Riddle in the dragon chest for Mirabelle to find, he visits her with the desire to make her his apprentice. And to impress the young witch, he enlists his Fairy to perform a magic trick for her. He doesn't realize that the Fairy is a Young Queen and has a thousand times more Magic at her disposal than he does.

THE FATHER OF WISHES - The Head of the Fraternity of Hermetic Goldmakers and the Unofficial King of Fairyland. He works in close cooperation with the Mother of Fairytales and teaches Mirabelle some lessons in Hermetic Wisdom. He also apprentices Baby with the intention of making him a great Wizard and entomologist like himself.

LADY NIGHTSHADOW - Or the Nightshade Fairy. She is the second of the Fairy Queens Mirabelle is destined to meet. And with her irresistible beauty she lures Mirabelle into her ghastly Nightshade Parlour. Eventually, after several gruelling ordeals with her and her Djinn, Mirabelle finds her way out of her clutches and prepares herself for the three Magical Battles which must take place before the conclusion of the D.O.L. Game.

THE FAIRY OF PROVIDENCE - She is also known as the Matron and the Mother of Fairytales. She is the third and last Fairy Queen which Mirabelle is destined to meet, before completing her Initiation into the Wisdom of the Craft. Without her Wisdom and Magic it will not be possible for her and her allies to defeat the forces of darkness in the Dungeons of Lethe Game.

SUMUKHI -The Chief of the Star Babies. In the start of the book, Sumukhi and the Star Babies help bring BABY from the Star Nursery and they introduce Mirabelle to the Dungeons of Lethe Game in her dreams.

SHIMBA -The fluffy white Bichon Havanesse who is Baby’s pet in the Land of Wishes and travels back home to London with him to celebrate Mirabelle’s 16th birthday.

THE BLACK FAIRY - Maleficando. She is the General of Lady Nightshadow’s troops during the first of the Magical Battles in the D.O.L. Game.

THE WISHING CATS - A particularly malicious type of creature that appears to challenge Mirabelle and Lucy during the second Magical Battle.

LADY NIGHTSHADOW’S DJINN - In the Goldmaking Parlour of the Nightshade Fairy are several Goldmaking engines. Inside these engines reside several wicked and very powerful Djinn. These assist their Mistress in making her Tincture of Morphic Snuff,

amazon.com/author/riddleofnightopium

Chapter Breakdown for Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium (short version)

Prologue - Mirabelle is a 12 1/2 year old girl from East Finchley London, who lives in a fantasy world of fairytales and adventure stories like Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Her Grandma is also a Witch and she tells Mirabelle that she has the "gift," and promises to one day make her an apprentice Witch. Her life undergoes a dramatic change, however, with the birth of her baby brother.

Chapters One and Two - The birth of the new Baby turns the household upside down and at first Mirabelle is annoyed by this, but she grows very fond of him, after she begins telling him fairy-stories. After that, she makes a wish for his angels and hers to play together. The wish appears to come true because very soon afterwards, she finds an old wooden box in the attic with dragon carvings on it. Inside the dragon box is a very mysterious and enigmatic riddle. Mirabelle shows the riddle to her mother but neither her nor Mirabelle can solve it..

Chapter Three - While thinking of the Riddle, Mirabelle falls to sleep and wakes up to discover that a one foot one fairy in a golden cage has materialised in her bedroom. Her name is Apricot Lantern and she is the property of a Wizard called Night Opium, who now tells Mirabelle that he will make her his apprentice, along with showing her a wonderful trick of making gold with his pet fairy. As the Magician cranks up her cage he belts the cage over and over with his wand. This makes the Fairy totally terrified and she crumples up whimpering on the floor of the cage. But when she recovers her strength, she becomes very sassy and angry, promising both Mirabelle and her new friend that she will get her revenge on them for their gross violation of the unalienable rights of fairies!

Chapters Four to Six - The Magician’s trick now totally backfires as the cunning fairy enchants them both with a powerful dose of her fairy glamour. Under her spell, Mirabelle splits in half like an apple. One half of her accompanies the Magician to his enchanted garden in the Land of Wishes. And the other half remains with the fairy in her bedroom. The fairy begs, threatens, promises and cajoles Mirabelle into freeing her from her cage. The moment she leaves the cage she transforms into a full-blown Fairy Queen, taking over the Wizard's enchanted garden, along with all of the Gold and Wishes meant for Mirabelle. Finally, Mirabelle’s little brother dampens the Fairy’s enthusiasm by bringing the dragons on his sister’s magic box to life. When the dragons jump all over the fairy’s frock, she leaps out of it in terror, and all the flowers from her dress fall into Mirabelle's magic box. When Mirabelle wakes up the next morning the flowers are still there with a note from the fairy apologising and congratulating Mirabelle on her 13th birthday.

Chapter Seven to Nine - Pressed by her mother, Mirabelle eventually tells her everything that went on with the Fairy and Night Opium. Mama immediately sends an SOS to Grandma. In the meantime, Mirabelle meets two new friends at school, Freddy and Lucy. With Lucy’s help she becomes the school’s authority on Witchcraft and Magic. And, inspired by her new found popularity, Mirabelle throws a Halloween party. Along with Halloween decorations, costumes and music, special games are arranged like “Faery and Vampyre.” and a Halloween Poetry Meeting. When Freddy reads his poem about the Initation of a young girl into the mysteries of Witchcraft, called “Thunder Man comes soon,” the weather suddenly becomes very violent, with rain and lightning and thunder crashing all around the house. Most of the guests want him to stop reading, but Mirabelle and Mama insist that he finsihes the poem.

Chapter Ten - After nearly all of the guests have left, Grandma Selena arrives from Glastonbury with two friends, and the three Witches conjure up the Dungeons of Lethe Game for those still present to play. After explaining the rules to everyone, Grandma places everyone in their respective teams - Freddy and his friend Melisande are in the Peacocks team, Lucy and Mama are put in the Amorinas team and Baby and Mirabelle are placed in the Tulips team. Grandma Selena and her two friends play as the Lethe Master in the Mandrakes team. The three teams, Tulips, Peacocks and Amorinas represent the Powers of White Magic in the Universe, and the Mandrakes represent the powers of Darkness. Mirabelle begins the game very favourably for her team by picking the Father of Wishes card. She now takes the journey up the Glass Slipper Staircase to meet the Grand Master of the Fraternity of Hermetic Goldmakers in the Land of Wishes.

Chapters Eleven and Twelve - While she is going up the stairs, the Father of Wishes teaches Mirabelle all about the art of Hermetic Alchemy - including its history from classical times and its entrance to Europe through the Abbashid Calliphate in Baghdad. She is also told that as part of her Initation as a Witch, she is destined to meet three Fariy Queens - the first of these she has already met Apricot Lantern. The next two she will meet later on in her adventures. By the time she has finished talking with him on the stairs, almost three years have passed! She now celebrates her 16th birthday in the Land of Wishes and as part of her birthday celebrations, the Mother of Fairytales reads out a story called "Princess Starlight and the Unicorn." After the story has been read, Mirabelle returns home to East Finchley to celebrate her 16th birthday with her family and friends Lucy and Freddy. The night ends with everyone playing the Dungeons of Lethe Game again. This time however, Grandma pulls the Lady Nightshadow card and things turn out very badly for Mirabelle as with Freddy’s friend Melisande’s help, she ends up as a prisoner in the Nightshade Parlour.

Chapters Thirteen to Sixteen - In these chapters Mirabelle goes through a very terrifying ordeal with Melisande and Lady Nightshadow in the Nightshade Parlour. Despite her gruelling and harrowing experiences there, she learns a lot about the Hermetic Sciences as well as the darker side of Magic. She also learns that this dark side exists in herself and that it can also be used to the advantage of her allies in the Game. At last, when she finally emerges from the Nightshade Parlour in one piece, she meets Freddy and Baby in the Hollowed out Centre of the Great Wishing Oak, and she knows she is now ready to begin the first of the three Magical Battles against the Forces of Darkness in the Dungeons of Lethe Game.

Chapters Seventeen to Twenty Two - Supported by her staunch allies - Freddy, Lucy, Mama and Baby - Mirabelle now fights all three Magical Battles of the Dungeons of Lethe Game in turn. Each of the three Games is more psychologically demanding and challenging than the next. But as she pits her wits and her courage against the dark forces of her rivals, she receives help from the third and last Fairy Queen, the Fairy of Providence. Through her Wisdom Mirabelle finally understands how important these Magical Battles are for her Initiation and development as a Young Witch. She also realizes that if she and her allies are triumphant in the Dungeons of Lethe Game, she will not only save herself but also all those she loves from the dark powers which oppose them. If she fails, then everyone and everything she loves will perish and the forces of darkness led by the Nightshade Fairy will triumph in a way that noone can possibly imagine!

Read the book Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium to find out all the details of the nail-biting conclusion and climax to our story, and whether or not Mirabelle and her allies have what it takes to stand together and emerge victorious in this titanicstruggle!

amazon.com/author/riddleofnightopium

Extract from Chapter 15 "The Battle of the Brids" - Magic Mirabelle and the Riddle of Night Opium

And having nothing further to say to Mirabelle, Night Opium turned his back on her and strutted grandly to the centre of the Arena, where he took out the first of the Magical Battles Card and read his declaration of war against the Black Fairy and all her opprobrious minions.

But the Wizard told her Mirabelle in no uncertain terms to "Stay the Hell out of the battle," and then he began to desperately rally his scattered troops and prepare for the coming onslaught of the Black Fairy and her army of waspish minions.

"The Battle of the Birds (Peacocks)
The Druid Grove and Sanctuary has been invaded by a horde of particularly virulent one foot ones, led by the most vicious Hornet of all: the evil Black Fairy Malificando. Her only intention is to wipe out all the protected trees and wildlife in the Sanctuary, including the Father of Wishes feathered friends, the Birds. Furthermore, this evil-minded Fairy wants to use the King of the Grove, the Great Father Oak, as the headquarters for the Mistress of Lethe and her evil consort, the King of the Mandrakes. All your Allies, Magical Weapons and other aides will be necessary if you want to achieve Victory in this Magical Battle against the Lethe Master. Success for the Peacocks in this Battle will enable your Quest Hero to take part in the Second Magical Battle. Defeat in this Battle means that your Hero must return to the Start Square. And all cards in his possession must be returned to your Pick-Up Deck. The Heroes from the Tulips and Amorinas team will return to their pre-Battle positions on the board and will retain all of their cards and weapons."

(iii)

When Mirabelle heard this call to arms, she rushed over to her little brother and immediately took his hand. Even if she did nothing else in the coming battle, she would do all in her power to protect him. Night Opium would be too busy playing his part as the General of his troops to have time to look after his little friend Shorty. But Mirabelle would look after him. Even if she had to invoke the Djinn from Lady Night-shadow’s dungeons to protect him, she would do so.

And then it began. The first sign of war came with the disappearance of the light. All the light and colour which had previously illuminated the Gallery suddenly began to fade and grow dim, as a gloomy and impenetrable darkness, as thick as pea soup, began to gradually engulf the entire arena. As the light was swallowed up by the darkness, the gay mood and banter of the birds soon vanished. All at once they stopped off with their gossip and boasting and became jumpy and agitated, fluttering about confusedly and making pathetic, dismal noises, as they tried to gather their bearings and morale, but kept colliding into each other.

As all this was happening, their General was gathering his troops together and trying to put some sort of semblance of order in their ranks. But they were already completely demoralized by the thought of the coming drubbing they were about to receive from the Black Fairy. Seeing their confusion and despair, Mirabelle shouted to Night Opium that he could not face this enemy alone. He needed her. He needed the power which was inside her: the power she had brought with her from the Dungeons of Lethe.

And then it came, the distant buzzing sound, like a bee swarm… Softly it came at first, but then it increased in volume and ferocity as it approached. And as all the birds shrieked and squawked in terror and tried to keep their ranks together, Mirabelle turned and looked behind her. There, coming towards them from out of the gloom and darkness, was the most spiteful and waspish horde of one foot one fairies that you’ve ever seen in your life. And leading their ranks was a veritable little hornet, a diminutive black fairy, rather like a crow in appearance and manners and a hundred times more frightful and malicious than the rest of her tribe put together.

She was the Black Fairy Malificando, the horrid little General of the bunch. And she glared at all and sundry in the darkness with the fierce and luminous Carbuncle Stone buried deep into her tiny skull: it lay somewhere just above her nose bridge, in-between her two eyes. The Carbuncle is a stone that is extracted from the skulls of Unicorns after hunters capture them and saw off their enchanted horns. In that stone is contained the source of the Unicorn’s Magic, but when it is sawn off, not only does the owner receive the Unicorn’s power but also the curse of all the pain and sorrow which the Unicorn feels when you extract it. So this will give you some sort of idea of how malicious and powerful this Fairy is and why Night Opium and his valiant army have no chance against her without Mirabelle’s help.

As for her evil-minded troops, they are nowhere near as powerful as their General. Still they are armed well enough to more than adequately cope with their adversaries the birds. In their fierce little paws they hold the most effective little spears: diaper pins, sewing needles, nails and safety pins. They are weapons that appear quite innocuous to us, but in the hands of this particular tribe of one foot one fairies, they can do more damage than you could possibly imagine.

Whereupon, the Black Fairy gave the command to attack in the most horrendous shriek, just like when you scratch your nails down a blackboard. And instantly, the bloody battle began in earnest. Seeing that they were cornered, Mirabelle’s feathered friends regained their courage and defended themselves valiantly, pecking and clawing at their attackers as they fought for dear life. Unhappily, the beaks and claws of the birds were no match for those ghastly weapons which the fairies thrust mercilessly, and with lightning swift speed, into the fragile bosoms and limbs of the birds. They fell in large numbers and there were casualties on the side of the fairies as well, so that towards the end of the Battle, gossamer wings and downy feathers littered the blood soaked arena.

But in the end, the day clearly belonged to the Black Fairy, who outwitted her rival at every turn plunging sharp metal objects into his flesh and burning up his Magical Attacks with the virulent energies which radiated from the Carbuncle Stone in her skull. Night Opium knew that to dis-empower the Fairy, he had to paralyze her and remove the Stone from her forehead where it was firmly wedged. And he shouted this order to his troops on several occasions. But all of them were either stunned or incinerated before they got anywhere near her power source.

Now throughout all this, Mirabelle had kept herself well out of the Battle and conscientiously looked after her little brother Shorty. Despite his constant protests that they should do something, she remained steadfastly neutral. She justified this inaction by telling him that the Battle was not really any of their business, especially when Night Opium had told her in no uncertain terms, more than once, that he did not want her to participate.

Her little brother told her that all of this was just a pile of crock and it was her duty to fight. And hadn’t she just said, not more than ten minutes ago, that without her help, his army would be slaughtered.

“And isn’t this happening now Miwa-belle?”
Mirabelle agreed. She felt absolutely awful about it all. “But I did promise him that I would stay Neutral. And would only attack if and when you or I were attacked first…”

Well, if she wanted to stay out of the Battle, she shouldn’t have given Shorty that little titbit of information, because immediately, he pulled himself away from his big sister and ran angrily into the fray bad-mouthing the Black Fairy, and calling her every foul name he could think of as he threw one curse after another from his little wand in her direction.

The Black Fairy of course was furious and was just about to turn her malicious intentions towards him, when Mirabelle invoked all the dark powers of her conniving Mistress Lady Nightshadow and let rip with the most powerful Whammy you can imagine. It streamed from out of her hands in a long blazing trail of dark purple light like an amethyst, illuminating the entire cavern as it wheeled its way irresistibly in the Black Fairy’s direction. And, as the Black Fairy’s attentions were otherwise occupied, she had no chance of dodging it or putting up any Magical defenses against it.

Instead, the Whammy hit her like a brick wall and sent her broken wings and torso spinning backwards. The Fairy was mercilessly spun around in a half a dozen or so somersaults before finally being thrown to the ground where she lay totally paralyzed and crippled. If she’d been human the Fairy would’ve had her spine shattered. But as she was a Fairy, and her body was composed mostly of non-physical Astral matter, the destruction of her body took place through a massive and irresistible energy drain.

It was pretty horrible to watch actually. You could just see the pathetic little creature twitching and shuddering, as endless streams of dark amorphous miasma streamed from out of her smashed carcass. The Army of Birds for their part went wild with joy, celebrating the demise of their accursed enemy by mercilessly attacking and ripping to shreds the remainder of her army. They were easy pickings, because without their malicious Queen, the entire tribe completely lost its will to fight, and if the birds had been a bit more civilized in their manners they would have followed the etiquette of the Geneva Convention and allowed them to surrender. But they were still seething over the brutal mutilations of so many of their feathered comrades, and so they showed no mercy. The shout of “No prisoners!” was echoed by every member of the flock, and the bloody orgy of the mangling and mutilation of all the remaining fairies really had to be seen to be believed.

Needless to say, their wounded General was not spared any of the brutality of their vengeance either. As it happened the last of the eagles got her, before any of the other birds did. They were huge creatures with razor sharp beaks and they would not allow her an honourable warrior’s death. And, as she lay there paralyzed and leaking all her vital fluids into the ether, the eagles swooped down on her and, after defecating all over her, they literally dismembered her, tearing her body into a thousand pieces before distributing what was left of her to their comrades.

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to link up to all the Magic and Fantasy lying dormant inside you?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live out your favourite fantasy characters in a totally open Role Playing forum with others who love them just as much as you do?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if all your favourite characters from your favourite stories met together and got into some pretty strange and exciting stuff?

Well, in the RP section of our group Magic Mirabelle and the world of Classic Fairytales and Fantasy books all of this can happen!!

You just choose a character from your favourite stories or make up your own. And then you bring them to life here - You can begin now.

Just remember the first law of the child like Empress - there are no limits to the world of Fantasia becuse there are no limits to the world of our dreams and the Imagination!!

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really liked this book, but not as much as the Secret Garden.

This is a Cinderella story - a riches to rags and back to riches again type book, with the main focus of the novel on Sarah Crewe, the spoilt Princess who travels from India with her Papa to London where she is enrolled in a Girl's Boarding school.

With her beautiful dresses, manners, wit and immaculate French, she manages to enchant the entire school and becomes the prize pupil. However, she also has a very kind heart and she mothers the weaker students as well as the servant girl who lives in poverty up in the attic. In every way she is the perfect Princess.

Things change very suddenly for her and she ends up as a poverty stricken and destitute orphan - there is no place for her in the school except as kitchen maid and French teacher to the younger girls. She is moved from her beautiful Princess room to share the servants quarters in the attic. Here she remains until her fortunes are restored.

This book is a reworking of Cinderella - but instead of the evil stepmother, there is the evil Headmistress of the school who makes Sarah's life Hell once she falls from her high position of wealth and favour. The cook and other servants in the kitchen also make her life unbearable and she goes around in rags and tattered clothes just like Cinderella. Sarah however retains her Princess demeanour under these adverse conditions and her trials are lightened by her attic comrade Becky and one or two of the students who remain faithful to her-

Her trials are also lightened by her befriending of a small family of rats in the wall of her room and a chance meeting with an Indian monkey. This meeting connects her both to her childhood world and the monkey's owner, a servant of an Indian gentlemen in the next building called Ram-dass (literally translated as servant of Ram).

As in the Secret Garden India represents the exotic world of Magic and mysterious predestined events. In the West we call this Fate and in India they call it Karma. With something of a background in India Frances Hodgson Burnett appears to be playing with the idea of Karma as well as the various Fairytale motifs.

The highlight of this meeting between Sarah and her beloved India occurs when Ram Dass, with the approval of his Master, lavishly decorates the attic while the two girls sleep and brings them sumptuous food to ease their half starved condition.

In a similar way to the Secret Garden, food in A Little Princess has an almost mystical aura surrounding it - food not only nourishes the children's bodies but acts as a Holy Communion to nourish their souls. The fact that the food is supplied by unseen Fairy hands adds to this mystique and both Sarah and her attic comrade are quite convinced that everything has appeared by Magic. Of course, when you think about the way the events in the novel have come about, they are both right in this assumption.

I liked A Little Princess. Like all books of this period it is very didactic and even moralistic in its themes and its plot and at times it is difficult to believe that any young child given over to such injustice and abuse can tolerate it all with such patience and forbereance. But at the same time the message of a child's victory in the face of grown up and institutional abuse is an irresistible one, especially when it is set upon a background of a Inidan mysticism and a child's belief in Magic and Fairytales. Sarah only survives her years of abuse and enslavement because she can draw upon the resources of her own inner world - her imagination, her stories, her dreams, her love and compassion for others and most of all - her faith in herself as a Princess.

The entire book is set in the cold, wet, dark and foggy world of 19th century London. Unlike Mary in the Secret Garden, this little Princess doesn't receive much help from all those wonderful green, growing things that help heal and transform Mary and Colin. No, Sarah has to mostly draw deep upon her own inner resources and make the most out of her miserable surroundings, such as when she befriends the family of rats in her room. In this way, this is a story of a real Cinderella like Princess.

Review
by Manfred
23-1-2017



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The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


George Macdonald is the Scottish Father of Fairytales - he was the inspiration for a lot of later fantasy writers including Lord Dunsany, CS Lewis and even the Great Bard of the Middle Earth sagas JRTolkien.

He wrote many children's stories and one of his best and most well known stories is the Princess and the Goblin - this book draws on familiar Fairytale motifs including the heroine Princess Irene as a symbolic Sleeping Beauty and her kindly Grandmother as a kind of Mother Goddess and Fairy Godmother figure that she meets in the attic.

The interesting part is that the hero of the book, Irene's friend Curdie. the Goblin chaser in the mines, cannot see her Grandmother when she shows her to him. And when she keeps insisiting that she is there, Curdie concludes that Irene is playing a cruel game with him - one that is totally unworthy of a true Princess.

As it happens, Curdie is very brave and courageous - he is very busy chasing the Goblins down in the mines, but at the same time he doesn't possess the Princess's insight and Wisdom and this creates a conflict between them and provides a very important moral for Macdonald's Fairytale.

Nowadays we all hate morals for stories, but in those times it was necessary to provide one. Even C.S LEWIS in his book TLTWATW instructs us with a similar moral, when Lucy slips into the wardrobe and comes back with stories of the fabulous land of Narnia and the faun Tumnus. Edmund also goes there but denys it. And her elder brother Peter and sister Susan conclude that Lucy is telling whoppers until the Professor teaches them the error of their ways through a system of logical elimination. Peter and Susan only have three choices - either Lucy is a liar or mad as a March Hare and if, in their experience, she is neither of these things, then OMG, she must be telling the truth.

In Macdonald's book, Curdie does the same. He acknowledges the Grandmother's existence and the Princess's special gift of gaining insight and knowledge through a medium other than the five senses. In the old days they would have said that Princess Irene had the Gift of the Sight. Nowadays they would say that she was clairvoyant. Either way, Macdonald plays the teacher in this section of the book by telling his readers not to dismiss the insights and gifts of others just because you don't have them yourself.

The book of course ends happily with a great battle against the Goblins and the clearing out of the mines so that everything in Irene's Kingdom can return to normal, including her Father the King coming back to bounce her on his knee and she and Curdie becoming best friends again.

I won't say more in case any of you haven't read the book.

I give it four stars because although it is an excellent and instructive children's book, it is not a work of Genius like Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan.

It's one weakness, like most of Macdonald's stories, is that it doesn't possess that charming and irresisitible humour that you will find in Lewis Carroll's Alice books or Barrie's Peter Pan. Most of his attempts at humour are not very successful, although I did like the bits with the hero Curdie stomping on the Goblin's feet - the feet are their most vulnerable parts and if you ever want to screw a Goblin you stomp as hard on his feet as possible.

But despite the fact that Macdonald is not as amusing as other writers, the voice in his books is wistful, deep and at times even sagacious. His books for this reason are often pretty slow paced filled with deep thoughts, mystical insights and lots of Romantic sentiment designed to pull at the heart strings and fill you with gushing emotions, just so that if you have forgotten your pocket hanky you have to rush out of the room to grab a kleenex.

That made his stuff totally perfect for a more sentimental age like the Victorian age. But not for a cynical time like ours. But for those who are looking for Romanticism, poetry and depth in your stories in your books, you just HAVE to read Macdonald.

C.S Lewis who knew his books better than I ever will boasted that Macdonald had literally "baptsised his Imagination" when he first read him. And, although technically he was not a great writer, he was the Greatest Mythmaker of all. And in fact no writer before or after him explored the archetypal world of myth in his stories better than he did.

This is probably true - just dont go to Macdonald if you only want fast paced books filled with cheap thrills and lots of entertainment. Because in that way he was not very modern at all.

Review from Manfred 19-1-2017



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The Secret Garden & A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The secret Garden is probably the most amazing and thought provoking children's book every written. Such a profound insight into the hearts and minds of the main characters Mary, Colin, Dicken etc- a little romanticised perhaps but still amazing.

The story is set in Yorkshire and it starts off with a kind of dark Gothic atmosphere with Mary stuck in this monstrous and spooky house and her only comrade of sorts is the servant girl Martha - Dicken's elder sister. The house at night is filled with all sorts of horrible tormented wailing which Mary bravely follows until she meets her bedridden and hypochondriac cousin Colin, the heir of the great manor house who is certain he is crippled, deformed and destined to die at a young age. He is in fact incredibly neglected by his father who has been mourning for a decade or so over his late wife who dies tragically in the Garden. After that he locks the Garden and closes it forever.

The company of Mary cheers the child up a bit, but it is not until he hears stories of the Secret Garden that Mary has just rediscovered that his interest in life is renewed. Eventually with the help of Martha's little brother Dicken, the Master of animals, plants and all other sorts of enchantment, the Secret Garden is brought to life again and Colin finally has something to live for other than his imaginery hump and other illnesses.

The main theme of the book the Garden itself symbolizes a kind of Paradise Lost that must be regained through the spiritual innocence, love and lifeaffirming Joy of the three children. Dicken is the Nature child in the story, a kind of Pan figure and the symbol of the pure rustic peasant child who, with his ability to charm animals and breathe life back into the soil, works miracles on first Mary who is the Keeper of the Secret Garden and then on Colin - who, as the heir of the Manor itself, is its owner.

A final miracle takes place at the end of the book which although stretching our gullibility as readers to the limit brings about the perfect resolution to the story. It is a lovely plot twist which not only reunites father and son again, but also restores the social order of things left by a ten year old tragedy and the abandonment of the Father's duties as Lord of the Manor.

This book was written towards the end of the 19th century about a time when the social order of England and societies links with Mother Nature and the pastoral idyll of the country life was viewed as sacrosanct - The author lived in a time that had not been devastated by two world wars, the Holocust, Hiroshima and the current trend of globalisation, the digital revolution and the infotainment society.

It is therefore a pretty slow paced book, filled with didactic passages and pretty morals, as well as a gushing Romantic sentimentalism. Even in the time it was written it is clear that the novel looks back to a Golden Age where the servants, villagers and their leige Lord were meant to live in a social harmony of bliss and harmony based on a set hierarchical structure ordained by God himself. It is also clear that it draws upon the old Renaissance idea of Mother Nature as being God's second book of revelation and instruction (the first book being the Bible). As such Nature is viewed in a totally non-Dawinistic sense. Instead of being Red in tooth and claw, Nature is both a guide and teacher as well as a benevolent and nurturing Mother - She is the Faery Queen of the New Eden which awakens at the touch of those like Dicken, Mary and Colin who see her with pure vision.

Dicken of course is the High Priest of this Eden, he is an archetypal Pan figure, the go-between for Mother Nature and the Fallen Adam and Eve of her world, Colin and Mary. When he connects them both back to their original link to her, the two are totally enthralled and awaken not only to the Secret Garden around them, but also the Secret Garden inside their own hearts and souls.

Colin and Mary both call this mystical awakening to Nature's Wisdom, White Magic and when he discovers its amazing healing powers, Colin vows that he will write books on the mystery of this magical force inside him and the Secret Garden. When the world learns of this Magic and Knowledge then all its problems and misery will disappear and the Paradise that existed at the morning of the world will be regained. This is a very odd idea for us in our time, but you have to remember that in those days Milton's Paradise Lost, along with Tennyson's Idylls of the King were two of the most important and influential books in the period. So the idea of regaining the Lost Paradise of Eden was not out of the question for people of the 19th century!

The film I think that was based on the book I thought was also amazingly beautiful.
There was a second book written Back to the Secret Garden, based on the first. But this book was written post WW II and the age of England's innocence along with the mystique of her Gardens was no longer there anymore was it?

Five stars for the Secret Garden - three stars for its sequel.

Review by Manfred
Heavily Rewritten 19-1-2017


Really like the whole India thing thats in it as well. Mary originally lived in India before she came to the Manor, so she brings some of the old stories and ideas from India which she learnt from her Ayah or Nurse there. Along with her meeting Dicken and finding the Garden, the stories from India help inspire her belief and Philosophy of White Magic.




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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a totally aweome duo of books.
Alice in Wonderland and the Glass, based on the real life adventures of Lewis Carrol's Child Muse Alice and his own mathematical Genius - have both become great classics in the nonsense and surrealist genres.

What many people dont know is that the nonsense and back the front logic in the book is not only an amazing play on words, but it also hides very serious themes of the author's own existential crisis in faith, belief and being ness. Lewis Carrol was not only a mathematician, he was also a Cleric of sorts who had a very deep insight into the nature of being, the Anglican Chruch, God and the society around him - all of which he blatantly satirizes, such as the monarchy and aristocracy in the figures of the Duchess and the Queen of Hearts, the law courts are satirized in the trial of the Knave of hearts. Even the holy communion of the Anglican church is satirized by the cookie with"eat me" on it and the little bottle with "drink me" on it.

Most of all the laws of Nature are stretched and subverted in a similar way with all the growing and shrinking scenes, the Mad Hatter's bizarre behaviour at the Tea Party - the sacrosanct ritual of English civility. And the Cheshire Cats disappearance until all you can see is his smile.

The Chesire Cat subverts Alice's and the readers reality most of all when he says that it doesn't matter which way she goes, either to the Hatter or the March Hare, she will meet mad people. When she objects to this the Cheshire Cat tells her that he is mad too. Indeed Everyone in Wonderland is mad including Alice herself. If she wasn't mad, she wouldn't be there in the first place.

This is very thought provoking for the reader of the book. In a way it challenges our reality hinting that it is the same with us. If we weren't quite mad, or if we didnt want to be mad like Alice and the Cat, we wouldn't be reading such a mad book in the first place.

But we all have and after reading it a little bit of Alice, the Cat and Wonderland itself now lives in us forever.

Thanks to a mad Mathematics Professor and his young Child Muse Alice Liddel!



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great.
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And if you have anything to talk about just say post and say hi.

Bye for now.

Great
Really glad.
Did you read the blurb also?

I have been experimenting with getting the blurb right.

Not easy to reduce 300 pages into a few hundred words!

did you see it?

What do you think?